Serial bus systems are known from the Controller Area Network Standard Draft ISO/DIS 11 898 (identified herein as "CAN standard") or by the Standard ISO 11519 Vehicle Area Network (VAN) and CAN low speed serial data communication).
One disadvantage of these available bus systems is that a permanent fault, for example a short circuit, leads to the total loss of the entire bus system. The more parties connected to a bus, the more parties are affected by a total loss. A further disadvantage is that each connected party also represents an interference point of irregularity, which causes reflections. The transmission security of the bus is degraded by these reflections. The more parties connected to the bus, the greater the degradation. As a result, the transmission reliability of the bus is determined, among other factors, by the number of parties.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a serial bus system which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art.